‘Jeopardy!’ Tournament of Champions: How to watch Philadelphia’s Ryan Long tonight

As if the Phillies entering Game 3 of the World Series on their own turf wasn’t enough, Philadelphia has another hometown hero to root for Monday, thanks to Jeopardy!

The long-running quiz show kicks off its Tournament of Champions, which brings back 21 of the best recent Jeopardy! champs to compete for a $250,000 grand prize — and this time, that includes Philly rideshare driver Ryan Long.

Long, 39, went on a 16-game winning streak, earning him $300,400 in winnings before taxes, and a place in the Tournament of Champions. He’s up for the tournament’s first quarterfinals matchup Monday, taking on fellow winners Megan Wachspress, a six-game champion from Berkeley, Calif.; and Maureen O’Neil, a four-game champion from Cambridge, Mass.

Ken Jennings, a former champion who won a record 74 straight games in 2004, will host the tournament, which runs through mid-November. Here is what you need to know:

The Tournament of Champions kicks of Monday, Oct. 31, and the games will run in the normal syndicated Jeopardy! timeslot. In the Philadelphia region, that’s 7 p.m. on 6ABC.

The tournament consists of the best recent Jeopardy! players, including winners of the National College Championship and Professors Tournament, plus two winners of the show’s Second Chance competition.

The quarterfinals will feature 18 contestants another across six episodes, with the winner of each matchup moving onto the semifinals. The quarterfinals contestants (and their records) are:

Six of those quarterfinal winners will move onto the semifinals, which will run for three episodes. During that run, two quarterfinals winners per episode will go up against Jeopardy! legends Amy Schneider, Matt Amodio, and Mattea Roach, who are not competing in the quarterfinals.

Schneider, Amodio, and Roach are among the top five contestants for consecutive games won on the show, along with host Jennings and James Holzhauer. Schneider has 40 consecutive wins, Amodio has 38, and Roach has 23.

The episodes are as follows:

The semifinal episodes start Nov. 9:

The winner of each semifinal match will move onto the finals, which start Nov. 14. The first to win three matchups in the finals is the winner, which means the tournament could wrap up as soon as Nov. 16, or run through Nov. 22.

Long is a Philadelphia-based Uber and Lyft driver who made waves on Jeopardy! this past season with a 16-game winning streak. He took home an average of $17,612 per game, and has the ninth-longest run in the show’s history.

He arrived at his streak living paycheck-to-paycheck following a serious bout with COVID-19, and began working as a rideshare driver to help support his 8-year-old son, Nathan.

“The money’s life changing,” Long told The Inquirer in June. “It’s not like I’m set for life, but if I’m smart with it, I can definitely do some things. I’m very happy and very, very fortunate.”

His run ended June 6, 2022, with Long finishing in third behind Ahasic and actress Stephanie Garrison. He was knocked out in Final Jeopardy, which featured a clue about Greek mythology.

Earlier this month, he appeared on Celebrity Jeopardy! to host a series of Philadelphia-related clues while wearing an Eagles jersey.

Despite his winning streak, Long told The Inquirer he’s not a rabid Jeopardy! fan — but he is looking forward to meeting his fellow champs.

“I actually don’t watch the show religiously,” Long told The Inquirer. “I grew up watching the show, and I’ll catch it here and there, but mostly I’m working.”